From the Floor: GOP Gets Fired Up!

Jim Kadtke is a delegate from the District of Columbia to the Republican National Convention. He joins D.C. Wire today to blog from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Hi Everyone!

Last night turned out to be an incredible experience. I have never seen such energy at a convention. The speakers progressively built the energy in the early evening. Then Rudy Giuliani gave one of the best speeches he has given in recent memory, and everyone in the Xcel Energy Center became ecstatic. He truly showed what a great leader and speaker he can be.

The main event of the evening was of course Gov Palin's speech, which everyone was anticipating. Within a couple of minutes of starting, she had completely won the crowd. Her down to earth charm and inner strength were truly impressive, even for somone like me, who tends to be a bit cynical about political speeches.

She has put a new, diverse face on the GOP that has long been needed, and from what I can tell from the conference attendees, it's already bringing a new level of unity and excitement to the rank and file.

In thinking about why Sarah Palin has generated all of this emotion, I think I can summarize it this way: She is not a manufactured personality, such as is so common in politics today. She is a real person and she resonates with real Americans.

Meanwhile our day-to-day experiences here continue to be mixed. The logistics are still not very good, travel is difficult, and resources are not very plentiful. It's still hard to find any information about local destinations, etc. But the people of Minnesota continue to be marvelously welcoming.

For disenchanted Republicans, her speech was probably all they needed to convince them not to vote for Obama.

But to the more objective thinker, I think what Palin did last night came across as kind of immature. She reminded me of the gossip girl in middle school who did nothing but acted as a vessel for lies, all in an effort to stir up controversy.

Republican faithful feel like she legitimizes them, but for the average Joe, he knows exactly what she's doing... which is avoiding talking about what she has accomplished (nothing) and what McCain/Palin plan to accomplish (drill baby drill).

I cannot wait to see this thing play out over the next two months. A few hard interviews and a debate and she'll dissappear as fast as she appeared.

Why is Palin doing so many speeches here. What happened to McCain. I thought he was the one running for President not Palin. Why is she not answering questions from reporters. Does she need to review her Notes? And yes family matters do make a difference. If you cannot control your family, what aboutthe country?

The Alaska National Guard, which Republicans are pointing to as an important national-security credential for vice presidential choice Sarah Palin, is the most poorly staffed in the nation. Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the Alaska Guard's top officer, warned in an internal memo 6 months ago that that "missions are at risk." The lack of qualified airmen has reached a crisis level." That could result in missions and equipment being moved out of Alaska.

The Alaska Air Guard has only 84 percent of its assigned positions filled, the lowest rating in the country.
Overall, the Alaska National Guard has about 3,800 troops in its air and ground units.

Under state control, the Guard's frequent duties are minor and routine operations. For example on Monday this week, Guard soldiers had to transport a woman with an eye injury to Nome for medical treatment. A few days earlier, Guard airmen rescued a man after his plane went down in a spruce bog 57 miles southeast of Galena. And in late July, the Guard was called in to a help a man who'd fallen off the roof of his cabin in the Brooks Range Mountains.

On the mainland US such duties are mostly handled by Fire Departments, volunteer firemen or Emergency Medical Technicians.

What a complete JOKE! These people have turned this country into a joke and the right wing ideologues are the punch line. What utter stupidity. What sheer ignorance. The Republican party has destroyed this nation and modeled their ideals after those of the Nazi's. How disgusting. How sickening. The list of atrocity's committed by these substance-less hacks is too long to print. Destroy the Constitution, destroy the economy, destroy the dollar, destroy the middle class, destroy the middle east, destroy the function of government, destroy the education system, destroy the health system, give themselves the largest tax break in history, line the pockets of war profiteers, line the pockets of big oil, bail out themselves, their friends and Wall street with everyone else's money etc. etc. etc.
WAKE UP! The willfully blind and ignorant have stolen our political process. they need to go. There are those in this country that believe every citizen should have a voice, these people have been allowed a disproportionate one, they believe that it is only their voice that counts, only their opinions that matter. We are willing to listen to them but they are not willing to listen to us. There are people in this country that believe all americans have rights, these people believe only they do and everyone else's should be dictated. There are people who believe every American should have opportunity, these people want that only for themselves.
Substance-less hollow rhetoric, partisan ideology, fear, smear, lie and cheat, it's they only thing they have, and it is just more of the same.

It wouldnt change my opionion though, I think Sarah Palin Should be the GOP nominee!! not McCain. The Republicans are much more excited about palin then mccain., The new most famous person in the world.

This site has the inside scoop about the Palin Dui Secret, http://www.duihelpguide.com Why hasnt the news covered this?

This site has background info on sarah Palin Bio, Pics, Videos, Alot of Polls like how many people actually think that she is attractive? http://www.theveep.com

This site has everything about her scandals, Levi the Boy Friend, what really happen with ebay plane. http://www.hotpres.com

Despite all of this, and her lack of experiance she would probably make a much better president then McCain., Because like Obama she hasnt been corrupted by washington yet.

It wouldnt change my opionion though, I think Sarah Palin Should be the GOP nominee!! not McCain. The Republicans are much more excited about palin then mccain., The new most famous person in the world.

This site has the inside scoop about the Palin Dui Secret, http://www.duihelpguide.com Why hasnt the news covered this?

This site has background info on sarah Palin Bio, Pics, Videos, Alot of Polls like how many people actually think that she is attractive? http://www.theveep.com

This site has everything about her scandals, Levi the Boy Friend, what really happen with ebay plane. http://www.hotpres.com

Despite all of this, and her lack of experiance she would probably make a much better president then McCain., Because like Obama she hasnt been corrupted by washington yet.

I am glad to hear that they will be united on this day. I wounder if Palin and Biden will also be present? I guess It doesnt Matter. It wouldnt change my opionion though, I think Sarah Palin Should be the GOP nominee., not McCain. The Republicans are much more excited about palin then mccain., The new most famous person in the world.

This site has the inside scoop about the Palin Dui Secret, http://www.duihelpguide.com Why hasnt the news covered this?

This site has background info on sarah Palin Bio, Pics, Videos, Alot of Polls like how many people actually think that she is attractive? http://www.theveep.com

This site has everything about her scandals, Levi the Boy Friend, what really happen with ebay plane. http://www.hotpres.com

Despite all of this, and her lack of experiance she would probably make a much better president then McCain., Because like Obama she hasnt been corrupted by washington yet.